Insurers differ over sector pay-outs

Lancashire, a London insurer, will return more than $400m to shareholders while Catlin, a larger insurer, says it is unlikely that such a wave of pay-outs would be enjoyed

• Munich Re warns on investment returns
• Atradius to widen trade credit cover

Old Mutual restructuring still under review

Analysts and investors have long expected a break-up of the group’s diverse businesses and there has been renewed speculation that Nedbank is likely to be sold

Citi to list stake in Primerica

Citigroup is to list a minority stake in its door-to-door insurance unit Primerica, in a move that could raise hundreds of millions of dollars and further distance the troubled bank from the financial giant assembled by its former chief Sandy Weill

Generali open to opportunities

Generali could take advantage of the expected shake-out of Europe’s insurance sector as a result of the global financial crisis to make an acquisition, says its co-chief executive

UK experiment raises prospect of new asset class

The financial crisis has forced banks to rethink the way in which they deal with debt

Pension insurance deficit doubles

The Pension Protection Fund says that its deficit for the year to March 31 have risen from £517m to £1.2bn, as a wave of insolvencies led to an increase in claims

ZFS swaps profit for balance sheet protection

Zurich Financial Services, one of the insurance companies least affected by the credit crisis, attributed lower than expected third-quarter profits to its strategy of spending on additional hedges for its securities portfolio

Munich Re warns on investment returns

Munich Re increased quarterly operating profits but the world’s largest reinsurer warned low investment yields could reduce its returns in coming years